Kacey Musgraves Middle of Nowhere
From the first line of the first Kacey Musgraves song I ever heard – “Woke up on the wrong side of rock bottom,” from “Silver Linings,” the lead track on her 2013 debut, Same Trailer Different Park – I knew she was one of the good ones. In the dozen-ish years since then, her ability to write about country music topics both de rigueur (drinking and divorce) and heretofore verboten (grass and gay rights) with a type of deft charm that lends her digs a degree of subtlety without dulling her barbs is unmatched. Has this cost her country radio airplay? Almost definitely. But it also gives her a realness that can’t be bought. Her latest album, Middle of Nowhere, touches on some of those same themes, but it finds its center on the issue of unexpected, extended alone-ness, occurring during a part of life when she was least expecting it.
Middle of Nowhere is titled after a sign in Musgraves’ hometown – “Golden, TX: Somewhere in the Middle of Nowhere” – a dry, dusty image that, in the ambling title track, Musgraves finds not at all unappealing – “The thing that I love about this place that I’m in/There’s no reckless men/Who don’t know what they want.” Of course, dry and dusty can lead to, well, what happens in the album’s first single. “Dry Spell” is Musgraves’ fun (if slightly implausible) look at the downside of choosing to be alone – “I’m so lonely, lonely with a capital H/If you know what I mean” (yes, Kacey, we do). Often, the entendres aren’t even doubled, which is the undeniable charm of the song
After her first couple of albums, Musgraves started to widen her sound, often to great success; 2018’s Golden Hour, with twang and pop stylings found in equal measure, netted four GRAMMYs (including Best Country Album). On Middle of Nowhere, though, Musgraves, who co-produced the record, has optioned to swing back toward more traditional country instrumentation with a career-spanning collection of long-trusted collaborators – if you like pedal steel, you’re gonna dig this from Track 1. Another country mainstay – The Feud – also shows up. Musgraves and Miranda Lambert apparently had a (relatively minor) dust-up over a song that Musgraves co-wrote and Lambert recorded (2011’s “Mama’s Broken Heart,” for those keeping track). The pair of Texans mends fences on the accordion-tinged “Horses & Divorces,” finding much in common, including, yes, public divorces, but also the really important stuff – “And we both love Willie/But, I mean…really/What asshole doesn’t love Willie?” Mr. Nelson himself shows up on the next track, “Uncertain, TX,” contributing vocals and some signature Trigger licks to Musgraves’ riff on fuckboys – “It’s weird that such a tiny town would have such a large amount/Of cowboys that just can’t get off the fence.”
Big-name guests Billy Strings (on “Everybody Wants to Be a Cowboy”) and Gregory Alan Isakov (on the very Texas-meets-Colorado “Coyote”) also make spirited appearances on Middle of Nowhere, but it’s the stripped-down last song on the album that best shows Musgraves in her current head space. Just vocals, pedal steel (via Paul Franklin) and acoustic guitar (Todd Lombardo) accompany the singer as she sifts through a break-up – “I don’t hate you/Tried to make you/Into someone you couldn’t be.” The key moment in the song, though, has Musgraves realizing what she can no longer live with – “I always do this/Wind up losing/My light in someone else’s dark.” Now in her late 30s, Musgraves has come to grips with a truth we all find at some point in our own lives – loneliness and alone ain’t the same thing. Sometimes, alone-ness is the only thing that works.
Song I Can’t Wait to Hear Live: “Abilene” – this extra-twangy track, with banjo from co-producer Daniel Tashian, gives plenty of reason for seeking solitude, or at least something different – “Feeling overwhelmed, over worked and needing Jesus/Hands always gettin’ cut from pickin’ up the pieces.”
Middle of Nowhere was produced by Kacey Musgraves, Daniel Tashian, Ian Fitchuk and Luke Laird, recorded by Konrad Snyder, Luke Laird, Joanna Finley, Phillip Smith, Mike Stankiewicz, Grant Morgan, Shani Ghandi and Velvet Cash, mixed by Serban Ghenea and Konrad Snyder, engineered by Bryce Bordone and Joanna Finley, and mastered by Adam Grover. Songs written by Kacey Musgraves, with co-writes going to Daniel Tashian, Ian Fitchuk, Luke Laird, Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne, Rick Nowels, Miranda Lambert, Scotty Emerick and Steph Jones. Musicians on the album include Musgraves (vocals, acoustic guitar), Tashian (acoustic guitar, bass, nylon string guitar, electric guitar, slide guitar, 12-string guitar, piano, keyboards, banjo, lap steel, upright bass, tambourine, shaker, cowbell, drum machine, background vocals), Fitchuk (electric and acoustic guitar, bass, keybass, accordion, keyboards, drums, congas, percussion), Laird (nylon string guitar, electric guitar, acoustic guitar), Dan Dugmore (pedal steel), Todd Lombardo (electric and acoustic guitar, classical guitar, nylon string guitar, 12-string guitar, high string guitar, mandolin, banjo), Dennis Crouch (bass), Paul Franklin (pedal steel), Gregory Alan Isakov (background vocals), Shawn Everett (harmonica), Justin Schipper (pedal steel), Billy String (vocals, guitar), Miranda Lambert (vocals), Fred Eltringham (drums, percussion), Rob Burger (accordion), Willie Nelson (guitar, vocals), Russ Pahl (pedal steel) and Steph Jones (background vocals).
Go here to order/stream Middle of Nowhere (out May 1): https://kaceymusgraves.com/collections/middle-of-nowhere
https://kaceymusgraves.lnk.to/MiddleofNowhere
Check out tour dates here: https://kaceymusgraves.com/pages/tour
Enjoy our previous coverage here: 2025 GRAMMYs: Who Will, Who Should